Essay Three Assignment: Masculinity
Essay Three Assignment: Masculinity
Length: at least 3 pages/750 words
Thesis Statement and Outline
Final Version due Friday, 11/13 by 11:59 pm.
Articles. You MUST Use Tatum and 1 other article (two total).
· Beverly Daniel Tatum, “The Complexity of Identity ‘Who am I?’”
· Michael Ian Black, “The Boys are not All Right”
· Andrew Romano “Why we need to reimage masculinity?”
· Sarah Showfety “Field Guide to the Tomboy”
· Colleen Clemens “What we mean, when we say–Toxic Masculinity”
Videos, Websites, and Poems. You MUST use at least 1.
· Ben Hurst TED talk, “Boys Won’t Be Boys. Boys Will Be What We Teach Them To Be.”
· Syd Robinson, “Here Are 16 Examples of Positive Masculinity.”
· “Strong men caring women” (Infographic)
· “The Mask You Live In” Trailer
· Gillette Commercial
· Jackson Katz’s “Toxic Masculinity”
You must cite all quotes using MLA format and include a Works Cited page. Review the MLA quick guide for examples of how to do this and how to format your essay.
Assignment Question:
You have done a lot of thinking and writing about this topic. For this essay, you will develop your own question based on the themes and ideas in the informal writing. This may be surprisingly difficult. If you are really stuck, you can use one of the sample questions below. However, be sure to create your own thesis statement!
How to do it:
· Obviously, you first have to make sure you have completed all the work, including the informal writing.
· Review your informal writing. What ideas do you see emerging and important and interesting to you?
· Draft a question and an answer. It might be that you start with an idea, and then come up with a question that goes with it. Or you might have a question first, and then a thesis.
· Review the texts in the list above. What fits with your thoughts and helps you expand your ideas?
· Choose more quotes to work with and expand your informal writing.
· Review my comments on your draft and make changes.
· Revise. Make sure you have a clear question and thesis and that your ideas all fit together.
Examples of questions and thesis statements:
What is the effect of traditional masculinity on people today?
Traditional masculinity limits men in many ways. These limitations can often be emotionally and financially damaging to men, making them feel like they are never good enough. Damaged men can be hurtful to the women and children around them.
How does masculinity relate to other parts of a man’s identity?
The different aspects of our identity, such as race, class, and gender, are all interconnected. Therefore, masculinity might be different for men of different races. Similarly, socioeconomic status can have a big impact on how we think about masculinity.
